Friday, November 15, 2019

Advertising at NY schools would bring in much-needed revenues

Sometimes when watching the 6:30 national news you
might catch in the background of stories about public schools in other states
sights that seem completely foreign to New Yorkers – football field sponsorships
and other means of advertising throughout the school grounds.

Such sponsorships have been a windfall to the
districts that partake in it.

It could be the same for our local schools…if the
State let them pursue it.

In September of 2019 the Empire Center’s Peter
Murphy produced a white paper looking at this very issue. He provided a stunning list of examples of
successful partnerships between businesses and schools.

The South Bend School District secured a $300,000
deal with a credit union for stadium naming rights and is in process of
securing $3 million more in miscellaneous naming rights from numerous
enterprises.

The Prosper School District near Dallas got their
local pediatric hospital to kick-in $2.5 million for naming rights at their
football field.

The Morris School District in New Jersey brings in
$3,300 per bus per year by allowing advertising signage on them.

Those represent a handful of literally hundreds of success
stories across the country. In all cases, the sponsorships have allowed the districts
to forgo tax increases -- and even decrease their tax rates -- while ensuring
their students have the very best science, computer, and tech labs and access
to the arts and athletics.

We could use a healthy dose of that here in New
York.

Populations are on the decline and taxes are high.
More revenues are being collected from fewer people, compounding the woes that
have led to Upstate’s decline. This has caused many districts to consider what
services, programs and teachers to cut in response to this fiscal stress, which
will ultimately lead to bare bones education in many districts which would take
away some of the niceties that families have come to expect and students need in
order to be prepared for college and/or the workforce.

Since they can go to the well only so many times in
their beleaguered communities, districts need alternative sources of income.
Advertising fits the bill.

But, in order to reap those benefits, it would take
some help from the State.

It starts with the State Constitution. Section 1 of
Article VIII of our legal framework says “No county, city, town, village or
school district shall give or loan any money or property to or in aid of any
individual, or private corporation or association, or private undertaking…”

Numerous interpretations of the “giving property” language
by the office of the state Attorney General through the years have stymied most
attempts to secure funding because, in theory, the schools would be giving
property, leased or on loan, albeit small, to the businesses sharing their
name, logo, or brand.

As if the furor of the AG isn’t enough, schools
must also contend with standards put forth by the Board of Regents and the State
Education Department. To clarify their
stand on the Constitution, the Regents prohibit schools from entering into
contracts that permit commercial promotional activity on school campuses.

So, because of these interpretations, New Yorkers
are denied the access to revenue streams that residents of other states enjoy,
putting the entire burden on taxpayers.

There are some ways to correct this.

One would be the full repeal of the state’s prohibition
of school bus advertisements. While most buses are not property of the schools
(for example, Ridge Road Express operates the bus services in Niagara County),
the owners thereof are not allowed to grant advertising. If they could, you’d
see a marked decline in the rate extended to schools.

The Legislature would also have to pass legislation
that would authorize commercial activity such as sponsorships, naming rights
and commercial advertising on school grounds. If they did so, it would require
an alteration of the Constitution through a referendum on the November ballots.
Any legislative
proposal must be approved by two successive
Legislatures before being submitted for voter approval. So, even if they
moved on this in 2020, we wouldn’t see results until 2022.

But, getting the Legislature onboard might prove difficult.
The Empire Center’s report notes that bills to authorize advertising were
introduced in 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2017 yet they never advanced from the
Assembly’s Education Committee despite passage by the Senate in ’15 and ’17.

So, what can you do as a parent who wants the best
for your kids, a teacher who needs resources for your students, and as a
taxpayer who would like your burden lessened?

Heading into the next legislative session that
begins in January, reach out to your Assemblyperson and Senator and ask that they
reintroduce such legislation and do what they can to champion it.

We’re faced with serious existential crises in our
schools and this would certainly help weather the storm. If naming rights can
be the difference between keeping or cutting orchestra or shop class it’s certainly
worth the change in the Constitution and the change in our culture.

From the 18
November 2019 Greater Niagara Newspapers and Batavia Daily News